30 weeks

Wow time is flying by! I don't know if I'll feel like it's flying by for me in January and February after the holidays are over or if I'll feel like time is standing still, but it has been busy the last 3 months with all the holiday happenings. I didn't realize that time would go by so quickly being pregnant with baby #4. I think it's a combo of all the holidays and still needing to take care of 4 boys. I know that with my last pregnancies the last 5 -7 weeks are the hardest and longest, so I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

But until then..... I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Gratefully this year we have family with us and it's so fun to have a house full! The kids are so excited as they're bouncing off the walls and don't know what to do with themselves. May we all enjoy the beautiful spirit of our Savior as we celebrate his birth at this treasured and magical time of year.

New Little Coop

So we have a new mini Cooper in the family.... and we're not talking about a car.
I'm talking about this cute little guy!


born December 15, 2009
at 1:44pm
8 pound 9 ounces
20 adorable inches

Congrats Aarona and Brenda! Welcome to the family Cooper! I wish I could hold you and kiss those sweet cheeks of yours! We love you!

Little Napolean

So this is Gabe's new favorite......
putting on some old hand-me-down snow boots or shall we say "moon boots", taking off his pants for who knows what reason, and hanging out in my room watching old VHS videos on this midget t.v. The best is when he raises his feet up and then plops them back down again with a big smile on his face. Thank you Gabe for making us laugh! You are too cute!

A Little Christmas Yummy

Every year my Aunt Sharon who lives here in Boise has a candy party before Christmas. Thursday was the big night and I decided to branch out and make something I've never made before, but had tasted somewhere. I did a little research online at www.allrecipes.com and found this recipe with some great reviews. If you like Heath bars, this could be your new love. Don't count the calories..... just chalk it up to a once a year treat for Christmas!
Cracker Brittle
1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 1/2 c. butter (3 sticks)
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I'm thinking milk choc would be good too)
1 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans
Line a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Spray generously with Pam. Line crackers tightly together on pan. Melt down butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes while stirring continuously. Pour over crackers and bake at 375 for 7 minutes. Take out and pour chocolate chips over the top. Wait a few minutes for them to melt down. Take the back of a spoon and spread evenly. Sprinkle chopped nuts over chocolate (can press down with a spatula if needed). Put in fridge to cool down. (I then moved it to the freezer for an hour). Peel off foil and break into pieces and serve!!

Last Week

Last week Adam was out of town until Saturday and so it was a busy week. Let me just say that my heart goes out to single parents....... not an easy task emotionally or physically! Surprisingly the kiddos did rather well (although I think someone above was helping me out with it all)!! So once I had the kids in bed, I pulled out some ribbon and went to work and enjoyed some quiet time to myself each night. I finally finished a bow holder I had envisioned in my head, so now we have a place for all these bows! Now I'm in the thick of Christmas preparations and so we've moved on to Christmas cards, teacher gifts, parties, etc. I can't believe this little one will be here two months (essentially) after Christmas. Ahhh! I don't feel ready at all..... As a parent and a mother I'm still in awe at how I can have so much room to love these little people that come into my life. It seems as though with each child, my heart grows another chamber to love each one of them. It's crazy how all that works, but I am thankful for a mother's love. I love that I instantly love them.... What a grand design! Ok, that's all for now-- good luck to everyone with your holiday preparations!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There's so much to be grateful for today. So many blessings and so many tender mercies have been given to us and our little family. So many things in every day life that aren't given second thought until we see someone else or another family suffering. The challenge, though, I believe, is to live in daily thanksgiving and give thanks for all the little things all the while teaching our little people that live with us that these are luxuries of life and they, too are blessed to have so much. Unfortunately we weren't able to celebrate with family today, but we had some very nice and fun neighbors that invited us over tonight. And yes, I forgot my camera. The food and company were great! I hope you all had a wonderful day! Tanner and I had fun today making this little turkey (Cades opted out). The last feather reads "dad's job" -- which he came up with on his own. I thought that was sweet! Tanner loves the fact that the turkey is doing the splits! I think it turned out pretty cute!

On the night of Thanksgiving Eve I got serious about a little secret hobby I've been working on and I've had some requests for some pics, so here we go! It is so fun making hair bows and coming up with different ideas that sometimes I can't see straight! I've given some thought about making a business out of it, but I guess we'll see. Right now I'm just trying to learn a few different styles while having fun mixing, matching, and coordinating colors/patterns. I think this baby girl will be set with hair accessories until she's 8! And no worries if she doesn't have a lot of hair, that's where the headbands come in!

Christmas Fun!!

Thanks to my Aunt, she recommended this super fun site for kids (and adults)! From activities, recipes, and letters to Santa, I think this will keep us entertained for a while!!
Thanks Sherry!
www.northpole.com

Missing the Palm Trees and 80 degree weather....

Palm trees, a little blue sky, some beach, warm sunshine, and sleeping in..... some luxuries we enjoyed last week while the kiddos stayed home with Papa and Nana (THANK YOU!) We celebrated a vaca to Florida for our 10 year anniversary and it was heaven! Adam also wanted to get in a little NBA action with the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And yes, Shaq is HUGE!

Some fun rides for Adam!
A trollish walk!
Epcot is HUGE!
Gorgeous temple in Orlando!
Adam doing a little body surfing at Cocoa Beach!
Enjoying a little NBA action!

Back to October

Here is the one and only picture I got of Halloween this year. Sad, but true. We had a busy jam-packed day (with a wedding and reception to go to) and the kids were so excited to go trick or treating once we got back that they didn't give me the time of day to do a photo shoot, and Gabe didn't want to even wear his giraffe costume. We were off to a neighborhood party once we got home so it was a quick change. Let's hope next year little man wants to get dressed up!

Moving on to Thanksgiving

I am looking online for some fun Thanksgiving family activities/gratitude reminders and I ran across this! Doesn't it look fun, yummy, and cute?!! I think we may just try it this year! Thank you Family Fun for all your great ideas!



http://familyfun.go.com/thanksgiving/turkey-crafts-recipes-gallery-800094/#Fruit Gobbler Recipe - Image;5

Back to Life!

Wow... it's been a while since I've posted anything. I have good reasons though! Adam and I just got back from a little vacation and now we're in the thick of reality! With the holidays fast approaching, my head is spinning with all the to dos, the list of big projects I have ahead, and the reality of every day life. In the mean time, I will work on getting some pictures loaded and the blog updated. Until then.....

Random....

I have been clearing some pictures from my camera and remembered I still hadn't posted about Grandma coming over in October! When she arrived we jumped in to making applesauce. I accidentally deleted the picture of Tanner helping, but I did have this one. They both thought the Victorio Strainer was the coolest machine ever... hey, I still think it is. It makes making applesauce a breeze!

Last weekend was our last Saturday of soccer. I think Adam and I were ready to wrap up the season and have our Saturdays back. It was cold and windy and Gabe didn't want to sit still in the chair. I took the camera to Tanner's game and he was so excited to get a trophy and cupcake!! Gabe was home sleeping during the majority of Caden's game, so we only saw the last 15 minutes and I didn't have my camera. He got a medal and a coupon to Red Robins!! Caden has informed us that he wants to play flag football next fall instead of soccer. :( (My heart is crushed) He is such a talented little guy, but I know it's important to let them experience their interests. We'll see what happens.


We had a fun trip to Idaho Falls while Dad worked there all week. The boys enjoyed the break, watching lots of t.v., playing with new toys and seeing their cousins. I enjoyed some shopping for pink time and starting a new hobby of making hair bows...so addicting! Now we're gearing up for Halloween!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

We now have a 2 yr old in the house! We celebrated his birthday last week while we were in Idaho Falls; however, I used my mom's camera and so I don't have any pics to post of the celebration. We had doughnuts with candles! I did get a picture last night with him outside with his new lawnmower while Adam was mowing right when the rainstorm was rolling in.

Let's say that he is a very sweet 2 year old and we hope it stays that way for a long time! We love you Gabe!!

Color of the Day!

Whew! What a morning it has been. Emotions have been running high, emotional tears of frustration and anxiety have been flowing and I'm glad the anticipation is over! We had our ultrasound this morning and ............................................................................
we're having a baby GIRL!!!!!

I can't believe it. Did I just say GIRL??? I am in complete SHOCK! I had prepped myself that this was another boy. I even had a name picked out. We have nothing pink at our house nor have we discussed girl names in the last 8 years. We are headed for a new, pink adventure and couldn't be happier! And for those who don't know, history is repeating itself as I am the youngest girl of three boys! Crazy but fun! :)

*Personal Sidenote* (for journaling purposes) Something I will never forget today was as I was having my ultrasound done, and the tech was looking at everything ABOVE the belly button, and 30 minutes later, my heart was still racing. When was she going to look for girl/boy parts? Seriously lady, you're killing me! Then she showed me the leg bones. THEN, she said to Adam, "Will you grab her a tissue, I think I'm going to make her cry." At that moment, I KNEW it was going to be a boy, and I was glad I had done a lot of boy prepping. I said, "Oh", as in I think I know what you just saw and I've seen it before. She said, "You're going to have a girl!" I immediately started crying as I was on the brink of a flood....I told her I'd be crying if it was a boy, but she knew I was crying happy tears. I was overwhelmed and shocked (still am) and so grateful that we will have this pink opportunity! The question is will I sleep tonight?

Traditions.....

No, I haven't had the ultrasound yet. That's tomorrow. It's late Monday night and my brain won't turn off. Too much thinking going on in this head of mine. On to the post....

I was on FB today reading about a fun tradition a friend does each year with her family in October. How fun -- I thought. I would LOVE to have some unique and special traditions to pass along to my kidlets. We have a few that we have created, or we've passed down and we love them, but I'm always looking for new ideas. I believe traditions are the glue that keeps a family together. Something to look forward to. Something to savor. So I'm coming to you --- what are some of your favorite family traditions (holiday and non-holiday) that you LOVE to experience each year with your family and kids? Anyone???? Please share. Don't be bashful!

It's Coming Up!

In case any of you are wondering -- my ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday, and of course I will blog about it. We are planning on blue since that's all we know at our house. Until then......I'll try not to think about it!

And Fall Rushes In.......

Yesterday was summer. Today is fall. Yesterday was 80 something and today was high 60s. Fall is definitely here. So bring on the soups and muffins, spice cookies, hot chocolate, and yummy scented candles. And winter, don't get too excited about making your debut any time soon. Thank you.

Funny one on Tanner

(Warning... long story for family history documentation purposes) So yesterday was our primary program. I was sitting up behind the Sacrament table with my class, and Tanner was sitting in the pews with his class. His teachers were sitting behind him and there was an 11 year old girl sitting next to him. If I leaned over as far as I could, I could catch a glimpse of his face as I tried not to squish the man I was sitting next to. It was a long hour and a half. No crayons, no games, no treats. The kids were bored. I would check on Tanner here and there, and every time I did, he seemed to be doing ok -- sometimes he was turned around facing the congregation, but I figured that's better than talking to his neighbor. About half way through the program, I glanced at the side pews in front of me and noticed that about the 6th pew back, these people were wiping tears from their eyes. I glanced at their daughter wondering if she had said something tender/special/heart warming, but that didn't seem to be the case. All the adults on the 6th pew were not only wiping the tears, they were laughing hilariously hard. What could be so funny I thought? We finally got through the remainder of the forever long program and rushed the kiddos off to primary to sit for another 2 hours! As I proceeded down the isle to get to the primary room, a mom coming towards me says, your son is hilarious -- we couldn't help but laugh at all the crazy faces he was making during the program! I'm thinking who Gabe or Tanner? Oh your middle one! Really, I didn't even see him. Oh yeah, she says....he had a couple of rows laughing. Oh man, I thought. I didn't even see him doing anything. Had I known......

So we get to primary and Tanner tells me that he got a pocket full of candy and some gum from the 11 yr old girl he was sitting by. She supposedly bribed him with the loot if he behaved well. At this point I'm thinking behaved well??? Was she even watching him?

As I proceed out of primary another mom makes another comment to me about how funny Tanner was. All the silly faces he was pulling, the cross eyes, the bubble blowing. Bubble blowing? He had gum DURING Sacrament meeting? Oh great! Yeah, she said, he would blow a big bubble and cross his eyes and hold it as long as he could -- it was hillarious. Oh man... had I only known.

As Adam and I got in the car, we compared comments with each other as to what he and I had heard from other people. Adam just laughed. I didn't know what to think. We pull up to the red stop light and the van next to us rolls their window down and tells us how funny Tanner was during Sacrament meeting and that he should sign up for the upcoming primary talent show! Lovely.

My visiting teachers show up this morning and one of them asks me if I had heard about Tanner's little show yesterday! (she's a counselor in the primary) Her daughter and friend sitting on the 4th side pew and couldn't stop laughing either. The mom (my vt) said, where were his teachers? The daughter replied, Oh mom, he wasn't being bad, he was just bored!!

So this morning I emailed the friend whose row was crying and laughing and I apologized to her for the disruption Tanner caused. She wrote me back saying, really, it was actually great because we had some non-member and inactive family members with us that usually don't like to go to church, but after we left church yesterday, they said it was awesome and so worth coming!! So I guess I have to hand it to Tanner for helping them feel welcome and enjoying their Sacrament services yesterday. Now, if I only had a picture of that bubblegum, crossed-eyed face!!

These are the Days!

Last week Tanner had a friend over and I decided to make them some play dough so we could use the fun halloween cookie cutters we have. After playing with it for a while and after his friend left, I could tell he didn't really know what to do with it any more. So I told him when I was a little girl, I used to play pretend cookie store -- just like in the mall. I would cut up all the cookies into different shapes and sort them by color, then put them on cookie sheets. I would then get my cash register (you know I LOVE to play store) and pretend to sell the cookies. I would even get a little plastic bag to put over my hand (pretending it was a glove) and carefully put the cookies into a little white paper bag -- just like the did at the real store. Oh what fun.....
When I told Tanner what I did, he thought it was a good idea, smiled and said OK!! Of course he didn't want me to take a pic of him, but I had to document it somehow! He's my first boy that really likes to play with play dough AND use his imagination to play store! Love it!

The Happy Dance

The other morning the boys got out their Speed Racer remote control cars and were zooming them around the kitchen floor. Gabe thought this was so funny -- he was going crazy! Just had to catch it on video and share! I can't help but laugh when I see him laughing!

A new season and career

So both of our boys have started soccer for the first time! Last Saturday we had the first games of the season (although Caden has been practicing since Aug 24). The boys were excited for their first game and Adam and I were excited to see what would happen. Adam's career as soccer dad and coach began too as he is assistant coach on Caden's team and head coach for Tanner's team. He is doing a fabulous job and it's exciting to watch all my boys enjoy this sport! For never playing before, Cade & Tan did GREAT! They both scored several goals and had fun doing it! Isn't the little coach huddle cute? Love it!

Preschool in Session

Tanner started his new career on Wednesday. For some reason he didn't want to take a backpack OR look at the camera, so this is the only picture I got of him at school, at his table ready to play with some play dough. Unfortunately he doesn't know anyone in his class. I think he would be more excited about the whole thing if he did. But I think with time, he will discover the fun!

Gabe the Babe

This boy has to wait another month for his birthday, but meanwhile, he is making us laugh all the time.
Lately, I'll find him in here doing this.... he's been watching his brothers too much! He just stands there and smiles and I start laughing.


Just this past week he has started saying everything we say. "Ready, Let's Go, Wait, What?, Rock a bye, Hussle"... It's so funny to hear him use the same influction in his voice -- he acts like he knows what it means! The BEST, though, is for the last 2 weeks he says thank you for everything! It comes out "tain too". He is the sweetest thing ever! If we hold a door open for him, he'll say thank you, whenever we give him anything, he's saying it. I hope this nice-mannered word stays around for a while!

As for me, I am enjoying my time in the mornings with this little guy since Tanner started preschool this week! I stayed home all day yesterday and cleaned out cupboards and drawers... something that's been on my to-do list since we moved in. I had high hopes that I could work on it this summer, but no such luck! I LOVE the feel of organized drawers and everything in its place. I LOVE the change of weather that is upon us (although today is supposed to be 90), and I LOVE the smell of harvesting onions that is in the air right now. Every time we walk outside, we're reminded of them down the road! And now it's on to freezing some peaches. Since we live in the "Banana Belt" of Idaho, we try to take advantage of all this fruit over here fallin off the trees! Tonight is Caden's first soccer game, and Tanner's tomorrow! Pics to come! I heart Fall!

Tan's Birthday

Tanner had a friend party this year, too. Next year will be a family party. So he wanted to go all out and have his first real party with a Batman theme! (We're not sure why the Batman theme since this boy has NO Batman toys in the house...) We had 5boys over and I think they had a good time! Tanner was very excited about the pinata, but since I was by myself, I didn't get a picture of it. But here's what we do have....




We did get some pictures on his REAL birthday opening some presents.




When we went in to check on him the night before his birthday, this is what we found.... maybe he was reminscing of when he was a baby?! Funny guy!

Gotta love jam!

A friend inspired me with the great idea to make raspberry freezer jam this week. I made some strawberry jam this spring, but we didn't have any raspberry jam. So here's for our year's+ supply! Thanks Em for the idea... it is so yummy!

Look Who's 5!

Happy 5th Birthday Tanner!
Some funny things we love about Tanner.....
*He is very creative and likes to put things together using odd and end toys.
*He likes to use his hands when expressing himself and is funny to listen to when he's telling stories.
*He loves (most of the time) to help and play with Gabe and is a good big brother to him. Gabe will miss him when he goes to preschool!
*Tan is a little daredevil and hardly complains if he gets hurt on his bike when he's riding the ramps and jumps. If he falls down, he pops back up again and keeps on riding.
*Whenever he's tired, falling asleep or just waking up, this boy loves to twirl his hair on the top of his head. He's done this since he was a baby!
*This boy LOVES to organize and reorganize drawers and cupboards for me. When he's on a mission, there's no stopping him.
*When he's having a good day, he can be a GREAT little helper doing whatever needs to be done!

We love you Tan Man!

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Fun News!

Caden, Tanner & Gabe are MORE than excited to let everyone know a baby will be coming to our family March 3rd! Whether we'll be talking blue or pink will be determined in a month!

Back to School!

What a glorious day it was yesterday! Caden was ready for school and Seri was more than ready for the 7yr old and 4 yr old to be separated! He woke up bright and early so that he wouldn't have to hear his alarm clock! Nice! It was a great morning. But today was a different story!

The Birthday Boy!

This was Caden's first year of having a real friend party. Our house was filled with boys! It was a fun celebration and I'm so glad Adam was home to help keep the kids entertained outside while I was getting things ready inside! This was the year of Lego Star Wars -- the new fascination at our house. There are little Lego pieces EVERYWHERE now! Love it! Happy 7th Birthday Caden!